Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 2126 to 2150 of 2962 results

2126. Earth’s Crammed With Heaven

Illustration

Michael P. Green

The argument for Creationism from design and order is clear in the following lines, written by Elizabeth Barrett Browning in Aurora Leigh: Earth’s crammed with heaven, And every common bush afire with God; But only he who sees takes off his shoes; The rest sit round it and pluck blackberries.

2127. The Plumb Line Law

Illustration

Michael P. Green

A plumb line can only prove that a crooked wall is crooked. No matter how you use it, a plumb line can’t make a crooked wall straight. The law was God’s plumb line, designed to show all people that they are crooked, or sinful. It was never intended to make us straight or righteous—and, indeed, it never could.

2128. Complexity of a Chromosome

Illustration

Brett Blair

Years ago Dr. Carl Sagan was all the rage in the scientific community. A famous astronomer and author who professed to have no belief in God or the Bible, but nevertheless recognized the complexity of the design of creation. In his book The Dragons of Eden (New York: Ballantine, 1978) he describes the complexity of a chromosome: A single human chromosome contains twenty billion bits of information. How much information is twenty billion bits? What would be its equivalent, if it were written down in an ...

2129. The Marital Law of Thermodynamics

Illustration

Michael P. Green

... , monthly, and yearly invest time and energy to keep the house enjoyable to live in. If no energy is expended on the house, it eventually comes to the point of needing a complete overhaul, or else it is knocked down. Although it is a law designed to describe material systems, the Second Law of Thermodynamics seems to describe other systems also. For example, consider the marriage relationship. It must have a daily, monthly, and yearly investment of time and energy so that it is enjoyable to live in. If no ...

2130. Romans 8:28

Romans 8:28

Illustration

Michael P. Green

... tells us how they work together for the good—according to God’s purpose. That is the picture. Are you perplexed and frustrated over this event or that happening in your life? Do not take the situation out of God’s hand and try to work it into your own design. God made the picture your life is composed of, and he will complete it—if you will let him.

2131. The Limit Load

1 Cor 10:13

Illustration

Michael P. Green

... load limit. This means that there is a limit as to how much weight each truck is allowed to carry. There is a good reason for establishing such limits. If the trucks were allowed to exceed their weight limit, the roads would eventually fall apart, because a given road is designed to support vehicles only up to a certain weight. Likewise, God knows how much we can bear when he allows us to be tested. He has assigned a definite “load limit” to each of us and never exceeds it.

2132. Life's Flight Simulator

Illustration

Michael P. Green

When American Airlines trains their pilots they first seek to prove them by use of a simulator. The simulator is designed to present the pilot with a variety of potential problems so that he will be able to handle any emergency in the future. First the pilot is tested with simple challenges, which eventually build up to catastrophic situations. The pilots are given more difficult problems only after they have mastered ...

2133. Solomon Asks for Wisdom

2 Chronicles 1:1-17

Understanding Series

Louis C. Jonker

... did not want this aspect to be hidden behind the emphasis on Yahweh being with Solomon. 1:2–5 The Chronicler once again takes pains to show that Solomon had the full support of all Israel in his going up to Gibeon. This designation is a prominent theme in Chronicles. In a certain sense the whole literary construction of the Chronicler is intended to define who “all Israel” was after the exile. Here it is claimed that “all Israel” was the community (consisting of different leadership groups) that ...

2134. Jehoram King of Judah

2 Chronicles 21:4-20

Understanding Series

Louis C. Jonker

... VT 51 [2001], pp. 9–25) proposes the following alternatives: (1) that Ahaziah was son of Athaliah and Jehoram’s unidentified older brother, Jehoshaphat’s firstborn and heir apparent who died before both Jehoshaphat and Jehoram; (2) that Jehoram, a younger son not designated to become king of Judah, was married to an unnamed daughter of Ahab and Jezebel and became king of (north) Israel when his brother-in-law Ahaziah died; and (3) that Jehoram, as Jehoshaphat’s oldest (or perhaps only) surviving son ...

2135. Amon King of Judah

2 Chronicles 33:21-25

Understanding Series

Louis C. Jonker

... -Amun), it seems strange that a king of any nation would name his son after a captured city. Given our meager information about these kings, any attempt to explain this name remains speculation. 33:25 The sociopolitical identity of the people of the land is uncertain. The term may designate a wealthy social class (e.g., free landowners), (collectively) free people or citizens, people from provincial towns (versus residents of Jerusalem), lower-class ordinary people, or a kind of national council of elders.

2136. Matthias Chosen to Replace Judas

Acts 1:12-26

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... could appoint only three. Peter’s assumption of leadership is as we would expect from the Gospels, where he is clearly the dominant figure among the Twelve. The term “brothers” (NIV believers), used here for the first time in Acts, may have been the earliest Christian designation for church members. 1:16–17 Peter’s speech falls into two parts (vv. 16–20, 21–22), each introduced in the Greek by the same word (dei)—one that expresses a need, often a need that arises out of the will of God. The ...

2137. The Choosing of the Seven

Acts 6:1-7

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... had selected were presented to the apostles, who in turn prayed and laid their hands on them (v. 6). This is the first mention in Acts of the laying on of hands (other than for healing; see note on 5:12) as the rite by which church members were designated for specific tasks (cf. 13:3). In the Old Testament it signified sometimes a blessing (cf. Gen. 48:14), sometimes a commissioning (cf. Num. 27:18, 23), and so was a fitting mark of the church’s recognition of God’s gifts in these men and of their ...

2138. The Church in Antioch

Acts 11:19-30

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... have been in that sense that Agrippa II used it in 26:28 (cf. 1 Pet. 4:16). The second matter is the provision made by the church in Antioch, as famine threatened, for the relief of the brothers living in Judea (v. 29). Luke’s language is designed to show the unity between these two groups of believers. The prophet Agabus, who had come with a group of others from Jerusalem, warned the Antiochene Christians that a severe famine would spread over the entire Roman world (v. 28; cf. 24:5; Luke 2:1). And so ...

2139. Paul Sails for Rome

Acts 27:1-12

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... inlets would have offered reasonable shelter for the ship. However, the very wind from which they sought protection was to deprive them of it and to drive the ship to destruction. Additional Notes 27:3 His friends, lit., “the friends,” which could have been a designation for the Christians as in 3 John 14. This term was used by other groups in the first century, but its use by Christians, if it is intended in this sense, may stem from Jesus’ habit of calling the disciples his friends (cf. Luke 12:4 ...

2140. Hearts

2 Corinthians 6:14--7:1

Understanding Series

James M. Scott

... of the citation and changing the pronouns, the apostle makes the text begin with an exhortation to come out from them, that is, the “unbelievers” of verse 14a. This shows once again that the citation combination centering at verse 17 is designed to substantiate the opening paraenesis of verse 14a. The quotation of Isaiah 52:11 is presented here as a consequence (Therefore, dio) of the reciprocal new covenant relationship between God and his people in 2 Corinthians 6:16d. The exhortation to separate ...

2141. Gift

2 Corinthians 8:16--9:5, 2 Corinthians 8:1-15, 2 Corinthians 9:6-15

Understanding Series

James M. Scott

... –15 Having exhorted the Corinthians to complete the collection (8:1–24), Paul now generalizes his remarks about the collection to apply to Achaia as a whole but still including the Corinthians. This makes sense insofar as 2 Corinthians was obviously designed as a circular letter, addressed “to the church of God in Corinth, together with all the saints throughout Achaia” (1:1). While most of the letter has focused on Paul’s relationship with the Corinthians in particular, Paul broadens his scope to ...

2142. Boasting

2 Corinthians 11:1-15, 2 Corinthians 11:16-33, 2 Corinthians 12:1-10

Understanding Series

James M. Scott

... (cf. Peder Borgen, “Heavenly Ascent in Philo: An Examination of Selected Passages,” in The Pseudepigrapha and Early Biblical Interpretation [ed. James H. Charlesworth and Craig A. Evans; JSPSup 14; Sheffield: JSOT Press, 1993], pp. 246–68). 12:2 Of course, Jesus’ self-designation as the “Son of Man” is a huge problem in itself. The Coptic Apocalypse of Paul from Nag Hammadi (NHC v, 2), whose Greek original may stem from the second century A.D., provides a gnostic interpretation of 2 Cor. 12:2 ...

2143. Paul’s Second Visit to the Jerusalem Church

Galatians 2:1-10

Understanding Series

L. Ann Jervis

... the reasons for and meaning of the collection, see B. Holmberg, Paul and Power: The Structure of Authority in the Primitive Church as Reflected in the Pauline Epistles (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1978), pp. 35–43. Reference to “the poor” may also be a meritorious self-designation such as is found in the Qumran scrolls, in which poverty was an ideal that signified piety and purity. For instance, in the War Scroll we find the prophecy that God will “deliver into the hands of the poor the enemies from all ...

2144. Hagar and Sally

Galatians 4:21-31

Understanding Series

L. Ann Jervis

... Talmud, Sanhedrin 34a; quoted from F. Büschsel, “allēgoreō,” TDNT 1:260–64, esp. p. 263). Paul demonstrates an allegorical interpretive approach elsewhere in his letters (e.g., 1 Cor. 9:8–10; 10:1–11), although nowhere else does he designate his interpretation an allegory. 4:25 The statement Hagar stands for Mount Sinai in Arabia has several variant readings in the manuscripts, among the most important being those which leave out the name “Hagar” and read simply, “For Sinai is a mountain ...

2145. Life by the Spirit

Galatians 5:16-26

Understanding Series

L. Ann Jervis

... and the Spirit is the promise to Abraham realized among Gentile believers in Christ (3:14). To live in accordance with the “sinful nature” is to exclude oneself from the inheritance. 5:22 Paul now turns to the fruit of the Spirit. The designation of the manifestations of the Spirit as “fruit” speaks volumes about Paul’s understanding of the ways of life he has been contrasting throughout the letter. Life lived in the flesh (“sinful nature”) is a life of work (“acts”), a life that strives ...

2146. Doing Good to All

Galatians 6:1-10

Understanding Series

L. Ann Jervis

... word as was translated “time” in the previous verse. The sense is “while we have time,” thereby alluding to the fact that believers live in expectation of the end. The phrase “family of believers” is literally “household of faith.” The designation “faith” for belief in Christ occurs throughout Galatians (e.g., 1:23). Now Paul describes those who share such faith as a family. This final injunction stresses the importance of attending particularly to the needs of believers and directs the ...

2147. Spiritual Blessings in Christ

Ephesians 1:1-14

Understanding Series

Arthur G. Patzia

... upon them. Both concepts form an important part of the letter (peace: 2:14, 15, 17; 4:3; 6:15; grace: 2:5, 7, 8; 3:2, 7; 4:7). One cannot help but notice the significant role attached to Christ in these opening verses. Paul is designated as an apostle of Christ Jesus; the believers live their life in Christ Jesus; and together with God the Father, the Lord Jesus Christ bestows the divine gifts of grace and peace upon his people. In the following discussion it will be noted that Ephesians has a number ...

2148. Made Alive in Christ

Ephesians 2:1-10

Understanding Series

Arthur G. Patzia

... world. The word followed in Greek is “walked” (peripateō) and expresses one’s way of life or manner of moral conduct. The Gospels talk about an open gate or one “way” that leads to life and another to death (Matt. 7:13, 14). Jesus is designated as “the way” (John 14:6), and his disciples are followers of “the Way” (Acts 9:2), “the way of the Lord” (Acts 18:25), and “the way of God” (Acts 18:26). This “walk” or “way of life” is described by the following statements: First ...

2149. The Armor of God

Ephesians 6:10-20

Understanding Series

Arthur G. Patzia

... cosmic mythology that he used earlier (1:21; 3:10) and that is found in other parts of the NT (Rom. 8:38; Gal. 4:3; Col. 1:16; 2:15, 20; 1 Pet. 3:22). Basically, these classes of evil spirits are a comprehensive designation for the enemy that Christians face. By belonging to the heavenly order they are nonmaterial or superterrestrial: “Though their present domain extends over the earth, their origin and base of operations lie beyond this world” (Mitton, p. 222). Only Ephesians uses the term kosmokrator ...

2150. The Supremacy of Christ

Colossians 1:15-23

Understanding Series

Arthur G. Patzia

... emphasizes the mutual relationships and obligations that exist among its members by virtue of their spiritual gifts. There the “head” is simply mentioned along with the other members of the body (1 Cor. 12:14–26). Only in Colossians and Ephesians is Christ designated as head over the church. The reason for this surely lies in Paul’s intention to proclaim the lordship of Christ over all things. He wants the Colossians to know that the church is the place where Christ exercises his sovereignty over ...

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